A Process-Oriented Framework for Justifying Information Technology Projects in e-Business Environments

  • Authors:

  • Amitava Dutta;Ruhal Roy

  • Affiliations:

  • George Mason University;Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. the MIT Operations Research Center and the University of Northern Iowa

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Electronic Commerce
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

Justifying information technology (IT) projects is desirable but challenging. Given the unprecedented level of functional integration in e-business environments, the way to link IT projects to business benefits is by capturing interactions in the business process in which they are embedded. Because the application of IT will alter the physical and information flows of a business process, the benefits of an IT project can be estimated by rigorously representing these flows. A system dynamics approach for this purpose is proposed, and, using a call center application as an example, the way this approach links an IT project to its business benefits is demonstrated. Simulations show how the model can be used to make trade-offs among important project parameters. In addition to linking IT projects to business performance, this approach offers insights into the timing of anticipated benefits.